To evaluate the effects of timing and length of zoledronic acid (ZA) treatment on outcomes for men with prostate cancer, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Hind T. Hatoum & Company, Chicago, IL. evaluated a large contingent of men who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer from January 2003 to October 2006.
They divided the subjects into three groups; ‘untreated’ (847 men) if no ZA had been given, ‘early ZA-treated’ (243) men if ZA was initiated before skeletal complication (SC) occurred and ‘late ZA-treated’ (218 men) if one or more SC was documented before or at ZA initiation. Additionally, the men were classified with short (?90 days), medium (91-180 days) or long (>180 days) treatment persistence. Assessments included follow-up duration (FUP) and risk of developing one or more SC.
They found that:
1- For untreated versus early ZA-treated groups, median FUP was 263 versus 357 days (p?Speak with your doctor about starting ZA as soon as you become hormone refractory, don’t wait for any type of skeletal complication.
Curr Med Res Opin. 2010 Nov 18. [Epub ahead of print]
doi: 10.1185/03007995.2010.535511; Hatoum HT, Lin SJ, Guo A, Lipton A, Smith
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 21083514
Joel T. Nowak, M.A., M.S.W.
Surprised they never used the brand name Zometa in their paper so that laymen readers would better understand the bisphosphonate drug they are discussing.
In any event, the early administration of Zometa/Zoledronic Acid now has more support.